A Dwarf Lord, Balin was old and wise, he was one of Thorin's closest friends and advisers, and was always willing to listen and offer some wise counsel. Balin is distantly related to Thorin, and is a descendant of the noble house of Durin.

He later went to develop the old kingdom of dwarves, Moria. He achieved the name Lord of Moria, where he is later killed by Goblins.

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Balin was a Dwarf, son of Fundin, and likely born in the Lonely Mountain before the coming of Smaug the Dragon. He had a younger brother named Dwalin and was one of those driven from their homes when the dragon Smaug attacked the Lonely Mountain. Afterwards he may have lived in Dunland as a refugee. He fought in the War of the Dwarves and Orcs. Many years later, in approximately TA 2841, he accompanied Thráin II, the father of Thorin, when he attempted to go back to the Lonely Mountain himself, but Thráin was captured and lost. Unsuccessful in their search for him, Balin and the others went back to live with Thorin in his settlement in the Blue Mountains.

Balin was part of the company assembled by Thorin Oakenshield that traveled to the Lonely Mountain with Bilbo Baggins and Gandalf to defeat Smaug and retake the mountain kingdom. He was the second Dwarf to arrive at Bilbo's house, where like his brother Dwalin he played a viol as big as himself. Among the Dwarves of the company, Balin was the second-eldest dwarf on the quest, and loosely, held the position of deputy leader. He led the Dwarves in their escape from the spiders and, absent Thorin, spoke for the party when the Elven King Thranduil captured them.

Balin gained respect for Bilbo's abilities, and was the only dwarf who volunteered to accompany Bilbo down the secret passage to Smaug's chamber. Of all the Dwarves in the quest, Balin was the only one known to have visited Bilbo at Bag End after their experiences on the quest for the Lonely Mountain.

Balin later led an expedition in an attempt to reclaim the ancient dwarf kingdom of Moria, hoping to regain both the wealth of Khazad-dûm and the last of the Seven Rings of the Dwarves. Ultimately, the search for the ring—which conferred great wealth and a curse of greed on its owners—was in vain, as it had been recaptured from Thráin II by Sauron. According to Ori's Book of Mazarbul, Balin did successfully become Lord of Moria for a time, recovering Durin's Axe, a helm and discovering Mithril. Balin himself was killed by an Orcarcher in the Dimrill Dale in TA 2994, ambushed while going alone to look in Mirromere (Kheled-zâram). Soon afterward the dwarf colony - which was too small for a kingdom - was eventually overrun by Orcs (led by the Balrog known as Durin's Bane) and wiped out.

In Peter Jackson's three-part adaptation is portrayed by Scottish actor Ken Stott. He is ranked as the eldest and wisest member of Thorin's party, in contrast to the book where Thorin is Balin's elder by about twenty years. Whereas in the book he wields a battleaxe, Balin in the Peter Jackson films uses a bronze sword with a unique cross-shaped tip (promotional material however describes the weapon as a flat-bladed mace). The studio released the following statement about Balin in the upcoming trilogy:

A descendant of nobility and a Dwarf Lord in his own right, Balin is one of the oldest members of The Company of Dwarves. Wise and gentle by nature, he has been forced to live a life fraught with war and the ongoing struggle for survival. Related to Thorin Oakenshield, Balin is one of his closest, most trusted advisers – but deep in his heart, this wisest and most loyal of Dwarves harbors troubling doubts about the wisdom of the Quest for the Lonely Mountain.

Balin is portrayed to be the wiser, more social and skeptical individual in Thorin and Company. He is kind, sly and brave, an excellent fighter. Thorin, at one point, quoted on Balin's skill as a fighter. He develops an essentially strong relationship with the other Dwarves he travelled with and was willing to fight alongside them for any cause. He was sympathetic, sometimes cynical, towards Bilbo Baggins, remarking that the latter wasn't fit for the job they had set out to do. He got on brilliantly with Thorin, and seemed to share something of a grandfatherly view of the latter.